Many cultures, one company: Linde Global Services

Linde Global Services (LGS) is the shared services organisation of The Linde Group. From finance and procurement to customer support and data management, the services provided by these international hubs are essential to the daily running of the company. With centres in Romania, the Philippines and other locations around the world – not to mention a central team in Germany – they mean it when they say global. We spoke to representatives from three of the offices to learn more.

The office that never sleeps – Manila, Philippines

Lawrence “Lucky” Toledo has been working for Linde for 15 years. He has a background in engineering as well as extensive experience in sales, marketing and customer service. Today, he heads up the LGS team responsible for Order-to-Cash North America – the first region outside of Asia to be migrated to the centre in Manila.

A “typical day” for Lucky and his team should probably be called a “typical night”. With the East Coast of the United States exactly 12 hours behind the Philippines, they arrive in the office at 9pm. And yet, they are not alone. As Lucky explains, Manila is home to service hubs for companies around the world, meaning such shifts are the norm. Throughout the night, lights flicker in buildings across the city, while nearby restaurants stay open for “lunch”. From 4am, the South Pacific department starts to arrive.

Lucky’s team of 23 primarily manages the Order-to-Cash process – aka the steps involved in purchasing Linde gases, from order management, billing and asset management, through to collections and payment application. Asking which qualities he looks for when recruiting, he says it varies according to key responsibilities. For customer-facing roles (order to credit), soft skills are essential, whereas financial management positions (credit to cash) require accuracy and a strong attention to detail.

“Our centre is very international,” he explains, “we have around 15 different nationalities working here.” The modern industrial-style office space – a real highlight for many employees – is designed to promote an open culture and communication, with a large shared balcony, a common kitchen area and no individual cubicles around desks. There are also regular events and parties to bring all the staff (around 420 people) together – in just one time zone!